I have the unpleasant task of sharing the news of the passing of Bill Kennedy who died early Monday after a long battle with cancer.
Bill was a man of many talents and I would do him an injustice to refer to him as Plain Dealer photographer Bill Kennedy, for he was far more than that. First and foremost a man devoted to his family who now celebrate his life and mourn their loss.
He was an artist with a camera, or musical instrument and used his his tools to make this world a much better place in his all too short time here. He always downplayed his talent and heaped praise on his fellow musicians and colleagues at the paper. It was just his way.
Over the years he shared his musical talents at ONPA conventions as part of our house band “The Pixels”. He never made any bones about it, he was at the convention for music, not photography.
Your day got a little brighter if you ran into Bill on assignment. He could make the hours waiting for a courtroom verdict pass very quickly. If you happened upon him on his home turf in Medina he took you under his wing and shared his knowledge of whatever was going on. Everyone in town knew Bill so it was like being with the mayor.
His friends have known for several months what the outcome of Bill’s fight was to be. I didn’t make it any easier when your heard the news though. In conversations with Bill he always referred to me as buddy. He had a lot of buddies, and that is why so many people from his immediate family to all who knew him mourn his passing today.
We will share information on services here just as soon as it becomes available.
I remember all those convections well especially when Bill was playing his guitar and make the room more friendly to be around, Bill was first to give my son Haraz advise on his photo portfolio. I will miss Bill. May God bless his family…..
Ali Ghanbari
I can't remember the first ONPA convention that Bill sat in and jammed. But myself along with Vindy photog and musician Bill Lewis were blown away that he had a guitar pick in his wallet.
He could play that guitar like it was part of him. He would watch as you would establish the riff and then just go to town with melodic leads that would make your head spin.
We worked together in Medina where he lived. I was at The Gazette and he was at the PD.
We had so much fun at assignments. The two of us would just laugh and bust each other's chops. He was a wonderful guy and the world is smaller place without him.
I'll miss him and my heart goes out to his family.
Doug Oster
Those hospitality suite jam sessions are my earliest memories of ONPA.
I only met Bill – you know, really sat down and *talked* with him – a couple times on short visits to The Plain Dealer when I was a student at OU. But man, did he ever treat me like a long lost friend each time despite barely knowing who I was! His personality showed he instantly cared about everybody, and you couldn't help but care for him back because he was such a great guy.
My heart sank when I heard the news. Our lives are richer for having had him as a friend.
–Michael King